Kara Goes To Washington, D.C. {Day 1}

I just got back yesterday from a very spur of the moment trip to Washington, D.C.  Like booked my ticket less than a week in advance kind of trip.  While I normally love the months of planning a trip, there is also something so invigorating about just packing your bags and going.

Here's how it went down:  On Wednesday, October 23rd, I got an invitation via e-mail to attend an event on the night of October 31st in D.C. to celebrate the swearing in of Cory Booker as New Jersey's newest Senator.  I thought: "Oh how, fun.  Wish I could go".  Then a couple of hours later, I got an invitation to the swearing in that morning.  At that point, I thought: "Dang.  I really should go!".  Thanks to some free airline miles and room discount from family, I was able to make it happen.

I headed out on Wednesday, October 30th.  I met my Mom that morning for a Lola hand-off, and then headed to Love Field to fly out.  I flew Southwest, and because Dallas is still restricted by the Wright Amendment (less than a year left!!!), I had to fly to Austin.  There was barely time to switch planes in Austin where I flew straight to Reagan National in D.C.  I was so worried my bag would not make the transition, but overjoyed when it did show up in D.C. with me!

I had no more pulled my bag off the luggage rounder and started wheeling toward the cabs, when I walked right past Dick Cheney!

I caught a cab to my hotel in Georgetown and immediately was struck by my dumb luck of being in D.C. during their peak fall foliage time.  Gorgeous!  The trees were honestly like nothing I've ever seen before.  I took tons of pics of the foliage, so much more to come in subsequent posts.  I was totally geeking out on the drive.  You know, just your average drive on a Wednesday by the Lincoln Memorial...

I arrived at The Melrose in Georgetown, and went to check out my room.  It was a Deluxe King Room on the top (8th) floor.  I had a nice view out my wall of windows...

That's Pennsylvania Ave. running in front of the hotel.

My room was very spacious and I loved how it was decorated.

I cannot express how much I loved the Constitution wallpaper.  

I found myself sitting there reading it over and over.

some George Washington art as well

The bathroom was divided in two sections, so it would be great if two people were sharing the room.

Here's a pic of the sink area.

The bedroom

You know how you are usually glad to get home to your own bed?  Well, I think I loved this bed more than my own!

I loved that this piece of furniture had a mini-refrigerator hidden inside, as well as a safe for my laptop and other things I wanted to secure.

I'm nothing if not a girl with priorities, so I hit the pavement and walked the (almost) mile down to Georgetown Cupcake.

You know, I test cupcakes coast to coast.

Wherever I go, I stalk out "the" cupcake place in that city.

I've gotten smarter.  I don't buy a ton to try at first.

I started out with three...

Chocolate with Vanilla, Pumpkin Cheesecake, and Red Velvet.

Turns out that was really a cheesecake and not a cupcake.

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped at Serendipity 3 for a small piece of New York City.  I ordered the triple grilled cheese with tomato soup for supper.

I only ate half of the grilled cheese and soup and sent it back because I was saving room for one of the top 5 desserts that I have had in my entire life...Serendipity's Strawberry Fields Sundae.  

Unfortunately, they came out to tell me that they were out of cheesecake and couldn't make me the SFS.  I felt kind of tragic about it, mostly because I wished I had my dinner back so that I could just finish it since I had skipped lunch!

Not to worry, I had cupcakes back in the room.

They were so dang good, I made a stop back at Georgetown Cupcake on my last day and hauled some back home.

Two Chocolate with Vanilla, Two Red Velvets, a Coconut, and a Lemon Bliss.

I'm still mulling it over (and tasting), but I'm close to declaring Georgetown Cupcake as the 

#1 cupcake place I've been to.

And only because I'm going to post my new outfits in the next post, I'll post my travel outfit too...

I think this could be cuter with boots (but it was too warm), or my new Tory Reva flats (they weren't broken in enough yet), but this, or a variation of this, may be my new fav fall outfit.

Stay tuned for {Day 2} in D.C. post~ aka: one of the best days of my life!